


Martyr x And x Saint

by ephona



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Gen, Other, Retelling, alternate POV, yorknew arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-05-10 04:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5570224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ephona/pseuds/ephona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SPOILERS FOR THE YORKNEW ARC:</p><p>A retelling of Chrollo's time of capture in the Yorknew Arc from the point of view of the Leader of the Phantom Troupe</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If there are any awkward sentences or grammatical errors please let me know!

A boy ran up to the top of the large pile, his eyes full of wonder and joy.  Behind him, two other boys followed, calling after him and asking him to stop climbing such a large monument.  “You’ll fall off and break your neck like that!” “If you get too high up, someone’ll see you and cut your fingers off!” “Watch out! I hear the mafia is always looking for kids like you to be bait!”

“I’m not stopping! I’m gonna touch the stars from here!”  The boy cried out to his friends, not looking back for even a second.  His legs carried him from the bottom of the trash heap to the top, a good few stories into the sky.  On the top, he found a chair and a few rotting pieces of old furniture.  He stood on top of the chair, reached out a tiny, pale hand and grasped his fingers into the sky.  He was so close to the sky from here, or so it seemed.  Maybe, if he tried hard enough, he would be able to grab the next shooting star that came by across the smoggy air. 

“Come on, Chrollo! Come down from there!  It’s dangerous!  What if the adults see?”

“Let them see me!  Look!” He turned back around to face his friends, his tiny hand still up in the air.  “I can touch the sky up here!  I’m on top of the world!  I’m higher than any person has ever been!”

“Nuh uh, there are airships that go higher than that.”

“Airships just fly around but are they trying to catch the stars?  That’s what I want to do.”  The boy sat down on the chair, his pupils full of starry thoughts and galaxies of aspirations.  “I want to catch stars, put them in a bottle and give them to everyone who needs hope.  No matter what the price . . . I want to spread starlight everywhere.  Even if it means . . . ”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Dancho? Hey, Dancho? Dancho?” A gentle finger poked me in the arm causing me to fly out of my reminiscing.  “Dancho? Are you okay?”

Large magenta eyes peered up at me through dark rims, a slightly perplexed expression on her face. “Ah, I’m fine Shizuku.”

“You seem tired.”

“No, no, just thinking.” I always made sure to keep a placid face when facing Shizuku; she surprisingly got upset easy.  She was a valuable comrade but her mental state switched from being very perceptive to forgetting the simplest things.  “Remembering my roots, persay.”

“Oh.” She smiled back at me briefly before getting distracted by the flashing lights and sounds of Yorknew.  The city was surprisingly quiet considering the night before the streets were filled with the screams and pleas of the residents.  With so much destruction and pandemonium present the previous night, I was sure the city would be in more disarray than before.  But, almost as if the entire world was immune to the mass murder of innocent people, the auction continued on that night and the world resumed as if no blood had been shed.  It was typical, really; I’d seen it happen more than once.  Each time, it just left me feeling emptier inside.  With a sigh to get my mind clear again, I turned my attention to the rest of my troupe present in the lobby.  Our mission to snuff out the Chain User had taken an unexpected detour when we’d felt the auras of the two boys now in our custody.  Apparently, Nobunaga had tried to recruit them no more than twenty four hours ago when I was out ‘courting’ Miss Nostarade.  I could see the potential in the two but felt they knew significantly more than a few kids should.  They just had a certain fire in their eyes that didn’t’ showcase complete ignorance.  One of them, the more spiteful of the two, even had the gall to ask me why I killed people.  It was a tough question, one I hadn’t really been prepared to answer.  In the lobby, Machi had the two tied up next to her with her Nen Threads while Shizuku stood vigil next to me. 

The lobby wasn’t too bad of a place to loiter while we waited for Pakunoda, Nobunaga and Kortopi to return from tracking the copy of the Scarlet Eyes.  Hopefully, that would be the end of our problem right then and there.  It would be a shame for me not to see such a troublemaker die but I wasn’t the only one seeking vengeance for Uvo.  Nobunaga would enjoy slicing the Chain User’s head off and tote it around as a trophy.  The richly embellished room wasn’t too bad to look at either.  Most of the patrons were quiet, with the exception of one man who had made an ugly scene yelling at either his friend or an employee over the phone.  No one seemed utterly suspicious of us as we stood facing the right wall from behind a large structural pillar.  I was thrown from my trance of thoughts once again as I heard new footsteps enter the lobby; a pair of heels, a pair of soft sandals and someone with tiny feet. 

“Ah! Nobunaga’s back.  And Paku too.”  The two came strolling up next to us, not a drop of blood on either of them or even silent Kortopi who was following in close stead. 

“Well?  How did it go?”

With a rough sigh, Nobunaga scratched the back of his neck.  “It wasn’t the Chain User.  One of the Nosterade girl’s bodyguards.  Pakunoda was able to extract some memories before we killed him though.”

“Mmhm.” Kortopi piped up. “We know their name and what they looks like, sir.”

Finally. The mystery behind the Kurta seeking out our demise was slowly but surely being solved.  Words of the fortunes I’d heard from everyone flashed through my mind.  We had to hurry.  If we wanted to make sure everyone in the Troupe was still alive, we would have to hurry up and locate them.  I heard Nobunaga ecstatically bugging our two prisoners.

“Hey, Dancho! Can we get these guys to join?” He pointed to the spiteful one in green.  “He’s got Uvo’s spunk. I think they’d be perfect for the Troupe!”

“You’re still trying to recruit them?”

“Shut up, Machi!”

Of course I had to decline.  It didn’t make any logical sense that these two were not connected to the Chain User.  Two odd boys telling us that they were unaware that the bounty the mafia put on our heads was null?  And two boys we had captured before for trying to kill us?  If they could tail us with great skill in Nen, there was no way they were telling the whole truth.  The boys expressed they didn’t want to join us anyway, turning up their noses like the brats they seemed to be. 

“Pakunoda, can you check them?”

Pakunoda was indeed one of the most valuable people of the Spider.  Her ability to read people’s memories at her own will was not only very rare but quite useful for our line of life.  It was definitely her who had extracted memories from the guard and shot her Memory Bomb into Nobunaga and Kortopi’s head.  Watching her work her subtle but powerful magic always brought a new sense of hope and joy to my stone-cold heart.  I still could remember the times she held my had or hoisted me up on her back as we travelled in search of food edible enough to stomach . . .

“Of course.  What do you want to know?”

“What are they hiding?”

“All right.” She moved to put her hand on the white-haired boy’s shoulder when he made an outburst.

“Don’t try it.  We’ll just think of something else so you don’t find out . . .”

Futile.  These boys definitely knew something they were hiding.  It sounded as if they knew about Pakunoda’s power in theory but not the details.  I shrugged, pulling myself off my reclined position against the pillar.  They could talk until their lips bled but there was no way to prevent Pakunoda from unearthing whatever truth she desired.  I could hear her beginning to argue with the boys, her hand changing from the boy’s shoulder to right around his mouth. 

“You can’t hide anything from me.  My Nen will fall like a pebble into the subconscious of your mind and lift up the silt that lies at the bottom.  I’ll be able to extract only what I want from there.”  I smiled.  Pakunoda wasn’t going to take any of this lying down.  A perfect addition to the Spider. 

Everything after that happened so fast it seemed like time crawled on just a few seconds more.

It started with the lights going out, enveloping the entire hotel in darkness.  The switch from such bright indoor lights to total darkness also caused me (and my Troupe) to be temporarily blind within it.  I heard commotion happening, struggling and the beginnings of a fight.  I didn’t have time to register what was going on before I was caught in my own predicament.  I heard a faint rattle as a cold sensation wrapped around my torso, neck and cheeks causing chills to run down my spine and my body to freeze up for a moment.  It felt like metal, either steel or iron, constricting around my body like a python and sealing my pores.  The thin force pinned my arms, hands still in my pockets, to my side and constrained my lips.  Feeling the metal taught against the muscles of my face and chest confirmed my fears: chains.

I’d gotten used enough to the dark to then fully understand the gravity of my situation.  Yes, it was a long length of chain around me, a few times.  And, at that moment, whomever was in control of the cold rope yanked me back a good foot into their unfamiliar arms.  One pale arm wrapped around my chest, pressing me hard into their body.  I winced as a sharp prick fell on the exposed flesh of my neck.  An androgynous voice then whispered a threat in my ear:

“Make any sound or indication of this to your Troup and you’re dead.”

Ah, that’s what happened.  Though the exact details were still unclear, but I knew the blackout had been planned just so the Chain User could capture me.  The boys, as I assumed, were their allies.  The two children had purposely closed their eyes so that they’d be adjusted to the dark when it came buying a distraction just long enough for the Chain User’s bloody hands to nab me.  I really had nothing else to do, did I?  I gave the bastard a small nod, trying not to create a cut in my neck as I did.  Just as swiftly as they’d captured me, they pushed me forward towards the exit. 

“Walk.  Don’t cause trouble.”  Not like I had anything else I could do.  I could only silently obey them.  It was quite amazing that the chains didn’t rattle much as I was forced to hustle out towards my own execution.  We paused only for a moment for the now clearer figure of the Chain User to throw a knife tied with a message around the blade at the pillar we had just left behind.  A lot more came into my sight as we left the darkened hotel and paved our way out into the dim streets of Yorknew.  In front, a black car sat waiting for us with the loud man on the phone sitting in the driver’s seat with a slightly panicked face.  He frantically beckoned my captor to hurry up, itching to go.  I was forced into the backseat of the car, the chain around me almost acting like a leash.  Soon as I was inside, the door was almost slammed on my toes and my coat in an effort to make a clean getaway.  I wasn’t expecting the Chain User, who had shuffled around the back of the car and into the opposite seat, to have such stunning blond locks and a powdered face.  I knew many a strong Nen user in my time but seeing the Chain User was actually a female wasn’t something I expected.  Once she was in, we were off just as the lights within the hotel flickered back on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please inform me of any grammatical or spelling errors as well as things I might need to improve on!

“Goddamnit, Kurapika! You were supposed to go faster than that!”

“You shut up!  Just drive.”

It was the blue-suited man on the phone making the ruckus in the lobby.  He’d yelled at the Chain User with the same intensity and spite.  His short-cut black hair could be seen from the back of the driver’s seat like some sort of plant.  He kept two strong, callused hands on the wheel and shaded eyes on the road.  I could barely see them but in the passenger’s seat sat a stout personage with a wide-brimmed hat and stringy gray hair.  They hadn’t even looked behind or said a thing since I’d gotten inside. The man, on the other hand, turned back to look dead into my eyes as soon as we stopped at a traffic light.

“Wha--? This is the leader of the Phantom Troupe?”

“Yes.  It fits the description I got exactly.  Plus did you not hear them calling him ‘dancho’?”

“Sorry, must’ve missed that part.” His serious face soon turned into a disappointed frown.  “Kurapika, really?” He reached back, touching my cheek.  His finger slipped under the chains there and he sighed.  “Is this really necessary?”

“What?”

“Chaining his speech? Really?  Kurapika, I swear—“ I wasn’t quite sure if I should be grateful for the sudden act of kindness or intimidated as his warm hands slid under the links and pulled them down off my mouth.  “At least have some decency.”

“Leorio!  I couldn’t risk having him scream like the coward he is nor do I want to hear what he might have to say.”

The whole talking about me as if I wasn’t there was really starting to grate on my nerves.  Every once in a while, some of the Troupe did it and each time I wasn’t afraid to let them know how I felt about being ignored.  I didn’t have the chance to risk that with this bastard.  As much as I wanted to cut my words into her . . .

“How about this?  I won’t speak unless spoken to.  Would that please you?”

The Chain User’s face distorted from pure anger to something a little more personal.  It seemed as if every ounce just melded into a mix of annoyance and a deep-filled hatred just hearing my voice speak so calmly and frankly.  She shot me an unforgiving glare before answering me, “You promise?  Otherwise, I’ll cut your tongue out.”

“Kurapika, for god’s sake!”

“Agreed.” He could restrain my speech but not my thoughts.  Though, I decided I should be grateful for the man, Leorio.  It seemed, just by looking at the two figures whose faces I could see in the confides of the car, there was already a struggle between them.  Kurapika obviously hated every cell I had.  Leorio seemed preoccupied with making sure his friend didn’t get his hands dirty with my blood.  An interesting dynamic.  One that had more than obvious flaws.  Perhaps even something that could be manipulated.

The light changed and we were speeding down the road again.  I pursed my lips in and out to dampen them, the makeshift gag drying them up.  I couldn’t really recall the last time I’d been immobilized like this, either with someone’s Nen or with actual, physical binds.  I could understand now why people captured by Machi’s Nen threads or tied to chairs mercilessly by Feitan’s lust for violence were so uncomfortable and restless after a while.  My arms tingled, my back was starting to ache from the forced straight posture and feeling the now strangely warm chains across my bare chest was not a pleasant feeling.  I felt nothing but discomfort coiled in the merciless chain.  I relaxed, though, trying to keep my composure collected. 

Hostage situations like this were all about mind games, not weapons or strength.  You could easily threaten someone with an empty gun and still get the same effect out of it if you had a large, loaded pistol.  You could force someone to do a task for you with pure intimidation the same way you could manipulate them with lies about the well-being of their family and friends.  I knew that, in her hands, I stood no chance in any sort of physical fight.  She was probably using it to dishearten me and bring down my spirits to a vulnerable level just for the pure satisfaction of seeing me helpless.  Bending to her whims would make her more powerful, so to speak.  So I had to keep my expression and countenance stoic and un-phased by anything she pulled on me.  With no Nen and my Troupe now in a sticky situation, mind games were my only weapon.

Eventually, the density of the streets dissipated from a crowded rush hour-like state to only a few cars per lane.  No one had spoken of where they were going; it had probably all been planned out before I was kidnapped.  Though the one in the passenger’s seat hadn’t so much as softly said a few words to the driver.  They were the one I was still unable to get a grasp on.  But they weren’t the Chain User so I didn’t spend much time trying to read someone through the back of a car seat.  Instead, as the lanes dwindled down to only two, I decided to try and read the Chain User.  Since she’d angrily rebuked her designated driver, she hadn’t moved an inch.  Her dark eyes were focused straight ahead at the road in front of us.  Her Nen chain lied coiled in her one hand while the anchors of the chain were in rings around each of her other hand’s fingers.  Perhaps she was concentrating as to keep the conjured metal in a palatal form.  The way she powdered her face and her body shape told me she was young, no older than nineteen it seemed.    If she was acquaintances with the two boys she could be someone as useless as their friend or as important as, perhaps, their mentor meaning her Nen was either exceptional or less than sub-par.  Her ability was also more than just a length of chain, it seemed.  With five different rings I could only assume that she had a chain that did five different tasks, probably most of them to be used against The Troupe and me.  She’d certainly had the plan down pat the instant we walked into the hotel lobby. She wore the same suit set and ascot as every receptionist there and her long, blonde hair pulled back. 

“What are you looking at?”  She’d noticed me scanning her.  Her almond eyes narrowed in another suspicious, hateful glare. 

“Nothing.  I’m just surprised.  I just didn’t expect the Chain User would be a woman.”  A large bluff to cover myself up.  But it turned in my favor, I guess. 

With a disgruntled sigh, she grabbed the top of her ponytail and pulled her entire wig off, leaving behind her natural golden-blonde locks.  “Did I say that I was?” Her, or rather his, hair was actually no longer than Shalnark’s, only reaching the very bottom of his neck.  He wiped the maroon lipstick off on his sleeve, placed the wig neatly in his lap, and turned to stare at me again.  “You shouldn’t let appearances deceive you.  And you should watch what you say.  Since might be the last thing out of your mouth.”

Now was the time.  He’d sounded the first truly wounding bullet straight from his haughty lips.  It didn’t mean a thing to me, though.  Just reiterating the facts was pointless.  This was the battle I was always best at; a battle of words.  I could have never hoped to be as strong as Uvogin but, admittedly, I had more of something that he didn’t.

“You won’t kill me.”  I consciously made an effort to avert all direct eye contact with him, feigning more confidence than I probably had.  “You left your precious friends behind, didn’t you?”

His tone raised.  “I’m not so composed that I’ll ignore your taunts!”

“Kurapika!  That’s enough, okay?”

Now that the subject had been fought and the battle had ended, I needed to keep on my toes.  I had been instructed not to speak unless spoken to, as were this ‘Kurapika’s conditions but I never was one to follow rules so blindly without testing the waters first.  He wouldn’t be a hard ship to bust.  Already, his walls were rotten and broken down by whatever seething anger he had deep within his heart. I could feel it pumping as Nen across the arcs of chain.  He was so volatile any stone could cause the walls to come crumbling exposing secrets, weaknesses and, surely, more rage.  I still had to tread carefully.  But I didn’t have to waste my time eroding the walls before crushing them.  For a brief moment, the sight of a piece of paper, littered with phrases, flashed through my mind.  Exactly the thing I needed to arm myself.

“Well, the girl’s fortune didn’t mention this.  Therefore, this event isn’t significant enough to even matter.  This won’t amount to anything.”

“You bastard!” His hand lashed out in fury as I saw the walls violently crash to the floor.  He roughly grabbed me by my coat, lifting me up a few inches to retain his control over me.  He got close enough that I could smell his breath and feel the air from his flaming nostrils on my skin.  Strained drops of sweat began to gather around his forehead and temples.  Meanwhile, frantic commotion came from the front cab of the car.

“Kurapika!”

“I swear to god, if you kill him, I’ll kick your ass!”

Now, the hostage had the upper hand.  “Do you need further explanation?  I consider this situation the same as an afternoon coffee break . . . a peaceful outing.”

I couldn’t help but smile seeing him so fraught with frustration.  He was truly one of the fabled Kurta we’d slain years before.  His eyes flashed into a brilliant scarlet crimson, glowing like a cat’s eye under a full moon.  More rage and spite kneaded into his face, contorting his brow into a twisted frown.  Suddenly, he got to his feet from within the moving vehicle.  I had gotten distracted for just a slight second (I’d honestly forgotten he hadn’t belted himself in), just long enough for Kurapika’s swift punch to my jaw to catch me off guard.  He’d used the hand with his rings and chains.  I could hear the metal clack against my cheekbone and push against my teeth.  Pain began to swell up all over the right side of my face, starting at the impacted area and bursting into my lower jaw and neck.  All that pent up anger just manifested itself right into a straight-forward attack.  I could only imagine his thoughts now.  He’d just laid a beating onto the very man he hated more than anyone in the entire earth.  He probably felt exhilarated inside, or maybe even accomplished.  I saw his seething face out of the corner of my eye and knew, just from the hue of his red eyes, that I was right.  Now I really understood on a different level what people like Hisoka, Feitan and even Uvogin felt after torturing and fighting those they deemed strong.  There was such a satisfaction seeing the one you are against mentally suffer knowing you still have a big advantage over them.  It was an entirely different high of its own.  And, well, I couldn’t stop myself from grinning.

Kurapika thrusted his other hand forward out of a pit of pure rage-driven violence.  He grabbed me by my hair, twisting his fingers in between various locks, and pulled my head backwards onto the car side window. He used that hand to keep me pinned down as he wound up his other fist to punch me again, this time right on my nose.  And then on my right side again.  Then my left, then my right, then right under my chin, forcing my neck upwards at an uncomfortable speed.  He kept throwing punches left and right in frantic succession, fast enough for me to know exactly where he last punch had hit by the throbbing pain before he hit me again.  I’m sure the sound, to the others, was distinct and deafening.  Blood began to trickle from my nose as he busted a vessel from a front punch.  Then, a bit from my lip as his reinforced knuckles caused my lip to be cut on the inside of my own tooth.  He’d gotten tired of the face very quickly and began to abuse other parts of my restrained body.  A blow to the side, a jab to my shoulder and then to my side again.  Pain racked my entire torso as he beat his fist into my gut about three or four times.  Blood pooled in my mouth and then spewed onto the upholstery of the car as I felt all the air in my lungs forced out.  Then a blow to my left temple sent my head rattling.  I was unaware if I was making any noises of distress during the assault but, with what little time I had to think of what to do, I kept on my toes trying not to satisfy the bloodthirsty runt with sounds of pain or discomfort. 

Solace came as I felt the car roll to a stop and the well-dressed man shout out the Kurta’s name.  He hadn’t hit me again.  The man, instead, had caught Kurapika by the wrist and used only the strength in his right arm to hold him back.  He scolded him, whilst the boy still stared deeply into my beaten face hissing almost like a rabid beast.

“That’s enough, Kurapika!  Stop it!  This is entirely unnecessary!  Chill out!” His arm shook in struggle as he forced his friend’s fist back down to his side.  “Listen, I know you’re upset but you’re making this worse.  If you kill him now, we’ll be in a hell of a bind.  We’ve captured the leader of the Spiders but they still have Gon and Killua.  We’re on equal footing now.”

“Equal footing?  I believe you’re sorely mistaken.”  I’d had enough time from the last blow to regain my composure abet a few stray hairs and bloodstains on my face.   “First of all, you’ve made the wrong assumption.  I have no value as a hostage.”

Leorio gave me a glare from over his shoulder while Kurapika struggled to keep his anger at bay.  Seemed like all Leorio wanted to do was prevent more blood on his friend’s hands.  “Don’t act dumb. We know you’re the leader of the Spiders

“Shut up!  If you insist on babbling, I’ll gag you again!”

“No, he’s right.” I almost didn’t hear her timid voice.  The seldom spoken passenger swiveled her head from around the side, gracing us with her stout, chubby face and protruding teeth.  She was very plain compared to all of us only wearing a simple dress and a hat over her thin, sickly looking grey hair.  Everything she said was in an almost hushed tone but was filled to the brim with emotion.  “Everything he says is true.”

“There you go.  This is reality.  You guys are the ones on the ropes.”

“What do you mean?” Kurapika had averted his attention from me just enough so that the chains were still taught around me but he no longer seemed to be occupied with wanting to beat me into a bloody pulp.  I could hear the littlest bit of confusion and possibly worry in his voice as he confronted the female passenger.

“His heartbeat is normal.  He isn’t shaken by any of this.  There’s not a discordance that tells me he’s lying.  He doesn’t sound worried or frightened of death.  It’s not that he think he may die it’s that he’s accepted death.  I can hear that he walks with death every day . . .” A Nen user that could read heartbeats?  Even with my own Nen sealed by the hard metal, I couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit of interest.  That would be quite the skill to have.  She seemed to be the Chain User’s trump card in all this.  Being able to detect people’s feelings just by their heartbeat?  And from such a distance too. 

“How can he produce a sound like that?” The docile tone of her voice turned to cries of distress.  She clung her fingers to her hat and stretched it over her head, crying out, “No more!  Please, no more of this!  I don’t want to listen to his heartbeat. Or yours!”

“Senritsu . . .”

“He truly believes he has no value as a hostage.  But, he’s still their leader.”

With his fingers still gripping the leather back of the seat, the Chain user turned back to look at me.  His Kurta eyes bore right into me, their red hue returning and setting ablaze inside his skull.  Finally, he wasn’t showing me only anger.  He had managed to calm down and instead stared at me with complete urgency and emotionless rage.  His words cut like a blade right towards me.  “Who are you?”

Who was I?  I’d remember asking myself that question years and years ago within the ruins of Meteor City.  It was such an important question, who was I.  From that statement, one could become anything.  I had no idea how long I spent wondering who I was and what my destiny was telling me.  The question still plagued me at times.  Yet, I knew the answer.  I took a glimpse outside my window, smiling at my own blood against the glass. 

“What are you . . . what are you people?”

“The Spider.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I based this scene (and the scenes hereafter) both after the 1999 version, which is a lot more detailed in places, and the 2011 version


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've been following this since Chapter 2, please go back and read the last part of that chatper as I've added more to the end of it.

To him, the name of the Spider turned his eyes a blood-red hue and caused his entire frame to shake so much with rage that one could hear the faintest rattle of chains.  Really, such a reputation we’d made for ourselves.  So great it was that just the phrase struck so much anger and fear into others.  The Spider . . . a fitting name for us.  I let my thoughts carry me as Leorio started up the car again and got back on the road, ignoring any other remarks Kurapika had made to me or his designated driver in the process.  The rain falling against the now blood-splattered car window aided in me drifting off into my own mind.

This Kurapika was unpredictable.  His blatant hatred of me and the entire Troupe was one factor alone.  Hate could do unspeakable things to a person, as I was a witness of.  But to be coupled with what little I knew about his personality and his position of power over me at this moment, I really did fear for my life.  If someone slipped up, either myself or a member of the Troupe, I could actually fall victim to his threats and find myself dead.  I wasn’t personally afraid of death, though.  I hadn’t been bluffing when I had told him that I had no value as a hostage.  I’d told all of them long ago that if I were to be compromised like this that my life wasn’t the priority.  I was afraid, however, of what my death would cause.  The thought of myself leaving this world and never laying eyes on the hypocritical corruption of this world again was refreshing, actually.  Maybe whomever was over heaven, hell, nirvana or reincarnation would be a better judge than any human soul that ever walked.  But what my Troupe, my friends, would do after I’d left this life concerned me.  For the very same reasons this Kurapika was targeting me.  They’d always been more unpredictable than him.  What would be of the Spider if I were to die if we couldn’t even handle not mourning over Uvogin?

Well, that was partially my fault.  Ever since that day years ago when a former member had been murdered by the Zoldyck patriarchy, I’d begun searching more spiritually for answers.  Though various religious texts and documents, I’d scrambled a good idea of whom everyone believed in and hoped for when one were to pass on.  The prospect of spirits and ghosts fascinated me the most. The belief that the spirits of the fallen could still dwell most have struck a chord with me.  I really believed that the massacre was sanctioned by Uvogin.  The blood on the streets, the ungrateful guts and gore of mafia leaders and supporters; I was sure Uvo’s soul could rest easy in whatever realm existed for him.  I huffed a bit at myself, trying to keep my sounds quiet as to not alert or provoke Kurapika more than he already was, just in case.  Is that really how I felt about this all?  Maybe that boy’s question earlier had provoked these thoughts in me.  Why did I kill people and feel nothing?  Did I really feel nothing?  Should I feel something for people as dirty as assassins for hire?  Or maybe . . .

I was jolted out of my trance of thought by Kurapika tugging on the chains that held me bound.  His eyes still radiated that lovely shade of scarlet that could easy entrance someone in a pit of fear just by looking into them.  He didn’t waste time scolding me or even asking me to listen, he just began speaking to me in an authoritative tone.

“Five years ago, were you the leader when the Troupe slaughtered the Kurta of the Scarlet eyes?”

Oh.  Just another attempt to make me afraid and to get answers out of me I didn’t want to give.  I kept my eyes focused on the upholstery of the seat in front of me to try and show my defiance before actually having to say it.  The hostage game was afoot again.  And he wanted to win over me.  I wasn’t going to let him have the satisfaction of conquering someone like myself.

“Answer me!” His voice rang out through the back seat of the car accompanied by another rattle of chains.  A metal spine attached to the end of one of his chains soared towards me, stopping only inches from my face.  He was good at being commanding but terrible at bluffing.  Obviously, this had to be his first time trying to force information out of someone.  I glanced over at the spine, my curiosity getting the better of me.  His Nen was obviously causing it to hover so close to me so the chances of all the chains being conjured by Nen was very high.  That probably meant there was a lot more to these chains than met the eye and that his skill in Nen was exceptional.  Chains were a simple object, yes, but to make them feel this real, he’d probably trained for days to reach this level.  Uvogin’s jubilant, smiling face flashed through my mind.  Nen chains . . . it all was starting to make sense how Uvogin ended up dead at his hands.  And, probably, what kind of power was being exhausted on me at that moment.

“Are those the chains you use to kill Uvo?” He paused for a moment.  Maybe it was because he was off put by how calm I was or maybe the fact that I’d used Uvogin’s nickname.  The endless scarlet of his irises made his angry emotions even harder to read.  “What were Uvo’s last words?”

He hesitated a bit.  “I don’t remember.  Answer my question!”

“He’s lying, am I right, miss?” I said, turning to try and glance at the strange woman in the front seat.  She looked at me but didn’t say anything in response to my question.  Probably not willing to talk back to her beloved friend who’d just taken a man hostage and almost beat him to a bloody pulp.  Truth is I could only assume what Uvo’s last words were.  From what I knew about Kurapika and what I knew about Uvogin’s loyalty to the Spider, I had the perfect picture of what might have happened that day.  He’d probably asked him to reveal our location, names or even abilities to him or die.  And Uvogin probably didn’t give him any of that.  His face flashed through my mind again.  Probably his spirit giving me an assurance that I was correct. 

“I understand,” I said coyly to Kurapika.  “I feel the same way Uvo did.  I have nothing to say to you.”

Was I leader when the Kurta clan was slain?  Of course.  I could remember as clear as day giving out the order to collect their eyes.  I could still recall the various screams of terror and pleading as they were tortured and dismembered.  I had even taken one of the Kurta men and killed him myself, keeping him alive with my Indoor Fish long enough to extract his eyes before feeling his blood splash onto my shoes.  Was I going to tell the last remaining Kurta that?  Not in this situation.  I’d surely be killed then.  What I needed was a better reading on who he was behind all that anger and rage.  Was he like Feitan, so overcome by those hidden emotions that there was no compassion for people he hated?  Or was he more like Machi who still had a soft side despite her bitterness?  The best way to do that, at least in my current situation, was to withhold information from him, making him as helpless as I was.

My slight bluff did the trick.  He reeled up again, taking the chain spine in between his fingers, and aimed his fist at me.  The hues of scarlet fluctuated with his frame still trembling with fury.  He wasn’t setting himself up to beat me up again.  He wanted to kill me.  He wanted to see me die.

“Kurapika!  He’s trying to provoke you! Don’t fall for it!  They still have Gon and Killua!”

Would he kill me right here?  With all the chips on the table plus an uncooperative prisoner?  I could easily see the gears turning in his brain.  What would happen if he killed me?  If he’d killed Uvo, killing me would probably be a walk in the park especially with my entire body bound down.  But what of those friends he had left behind?  Was he that heartless and so full of hatred for me that he’d stop his mission now?  I knew many people who would and my Troupe was one of them.  Vengeance did things to humans that no one would admit to seeing.  I was more than ready for my final words to be that of silence.

There was a quiet mutter.  And then the Chain User turned away from me but not before snatching my phone from my pocket roughly, leaving me feeling slightly violated but alive.  That proved it.  For someone as vicious as he seemed, I was quite surprised.  He had an easily exploitable weakness.  One I could continue to use.

With his eyes no longer red, he began talking on the phone to someone using the contacts on my phone.  “I have three demands.  The general rule is that my demands are absolute.  If you don’t obey, I’ll kill you leader immediately.” He spoke with so much professional prowess that one would never have guessed that he’d been boiling over with violence only seconds ago.  “One, do not follow or come after us.  Two, do not harm your hostages.  Three, put Pakunoda on the phone.”

Pakunoda?  I was the idiot now.  That was his target, not the entire Troupe.  How much did he know about us?  I looked for clues of how much he knew in his body language and face but all I saw was annoyance.  I couldn’t hear the exact words from the male voice on the other end of the line but the tone sounded like he was trying to discuss or even warn the Chain User of something.  And it wasn’t making my kidnapper happy.

“Then we’re done negotiating.” AS abruptly as he’d spoke, he hung up.  My heart skipped a beat as he snapped his head around to glare at me.

“Kurapika, don’t you fucking dare—“

“But they—oh, hold on.” I felt the nervous lump in my throat disappear just hearing the tone coming from my phone.  I knew exactly who he’d managed to call up. Of course.  This time, I heard enough of the voice to reaffirm my suspicions and make out a bit of dialogue.

“What is it?”

“That was a joke.  I’m sorry.” It was Phinks.  I inwardly groaned.  His ‘joke’, whatever it was, almost had me killed for no reason.  He was so going to get scolded, if not by everyone else, by me. 

“This is your only warning.  No cheap tricks.  Put Pakunoda on the phone.”

Goddamit, Phinks.

The rain began to let up a bit as the road grew further and further away from the city lights of Yorknew.  The blood on my face had dried on my skin, the crusty leftovers adding to the discomfort.  My arms had gone numb and my legs were getting to that point.  Had I ever been tied up before?  Probably once?  But not by something as cruel and restrictive as chains.  Leorio took a glance back at me with his narrow, shifty eyes which I returned with a docile smile.  I wonder what he thought of me.  He seemed very kindhearted and perhaps even street smart.  Kurapika was his friend but I’m sure he probably didn’t have a personal agenda against me.  He kept stopping Kurapika from killing me after all.  He didn’t want his friends to dirty his hands again. 

My ears snapped back to the Chain User as I heard Pakunoda’s name again.  “Did you make contact with a man named Squala?  Are you aware of a woman named Senritsu?” He was picking her brain for the memories she’d extracted from the two boys, I was sure of it.  Odd.  I hadn’t met the boys before today but there was no way Nobunaga or Machi would have been so stupid as to reveal her Nen ability to them.  How did he seem to know so much about a person’s abilities he’d never met? “I see.” Both Pakunoda on the receiving end and Kurapika spoke very calmly.  “Then I’ll get straight to the point.  Listen carefully.  You are forbidden from communicating with your comrades.  No talking, gesturing, signaling, writing or making deliberate eye contact.  None of that is allowed.  You must come to the location I tell you alone.  If your heart rate changes even the slightest,” He tugged at the anchor chain to emphasize his words.  No reason to but what was I to say? “I will kill the hostage. Understood?” He paused to let her respond.  “Now give the phone to someone besides the previous man.”

I scoffed a bit.  Leave it to Phinks to already be on his last nerve.

“What’s so funny?” Kurapika snapped

“Nothing. Just not surprised he’s giving you grief.”

Unimpressed, he tugged on the chain again.  “I thought we agreed you’d only speak if spoken to.”

“But I was.  You asked me a question.”

He was way too easy to provoke.  His knuckles went white as he balled his fist up just out of pure irritation. “Don’t sass me.  You still haven’t answered my first question and I’m not in the mood.  Don’t speak unless you’re going to fess up to your involvement in the massacre of the Kurta or not, got it, _Dancho_?”

Ow.  Using my title like that.  Someone needed to tuck his brat in bed.  “Understood.”

He sneered at me one more time before putting his cheek back to the phone.  A few minutes of rainy silence later and he was making orders again.  “I’m going to meet with Pakunoda alone.  The rest of you must return to your hide out.  All ten Troupe members must be there.  If a single one is missing, I’ll kill the hostage.  Understood?” He’d really set up a solid bind.  In any other situation like this, such demands would become impossible to get around.  He’d left no stone unturned, no loose ends.  It was either follow his demands exactly or there would be causalities.  I had to commend him for that, really.  But holding someone like myself hostage was the first mistake.  He only knew a sliver of the deeds The Spider could do, especially when provoked and backed into a corner.

“You are to come to Lingon Airport.  You have until eight p.m. And you must come alone.” He gave Paku one last order before hanging up.  Now my life was truly in Pakunoda’s hands.  Hopefully, she kept her head level.  Hopefully she’d remembered what we’d agreed on that day The Spider was formed.  Kurapika was too weak of a boy to be dealing with us.  She needed not hesitate.  If she did, more than myself would die.  She needed to bring everyone.  Kurapika cared more about his friend’s blood than my own.


End file.
